


another spring

by stationlittle



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 19:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12196332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stationlittle/pseuds/stationlittle
Summary: Written for the Betrayal theme of @meflashfanwork.Focused on Miranda and her feelings about Niket's betrayal, with a hint of MShep/Miranda





	another spring

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the poem Another Spring by Denise Levertov. Thank you to Jamie for betareading :)

She stared at the picture, not certain if she should have kept it. She needed it, though. Needed to see her sister alive and well. Smiling. It was like looking in a mirror, only Miranda had never smiled back then.  
No. That wasn't true. She had smiled, once or twice, when Niket was around.  
His betrayal still stung, mostly because she didn't understand it. He had seen it all. He knew what her father was like. How could he do this to her?  
She pondered this for days and came close to no conclusions. It was maddening.

As Shepard entered her cabin, she put on a brave face and greeted him with a nod. Anyone else, she would have hidden the datapad with the picture of her sister. With him, she didn't have to.

"Shepard," she said.

"Miranda," he replied.

He stood in front of her looking serene. She liked this about him. Others who came to see her always looked uncomfortable. Even Kelly Chambers wasn't quite at ease. Jacob was used to her but the previous Normandy crew hated her. The new people they had recruited distrusted her or grudgingly respected her expertise or leadership without totally accepting her.

Shepard was different.

From the very beginning, he didn't care about the little power she might hold.  
If he cared about her background, it wasn't to use it against her. Her nature as a human clone didn't seem him to faze him. She supposed it wouldn't.

Truthfully, he seemed to only care about her wellbeing. It was new and pleasing. Terrifying too.

"I talked to Jacob the other day. Know what he said? He suggested creating a therapy group for people who had horrible fathers. Tali got offended, but I don't think he meant it for her."

She stared at him, wondering if it was a joke. The teasing look that slowly appeared on his face told her everything. She smiled, despite herself.

"You're hilarious," she said.

"That's me, the comic. I should start a comedy tour. I'm sure I'll have a lot of success on the Citadel. I'll get an Elcor for my first act. Heard they draw big crowds."

"You're not just here to announce your career change, are you?"

"Back to business, are we?"

She didn't reply. He sat in the chair facing her desk, looking pensive.  
She wondered what he was thinking about. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

"I came here..." He stopped, sighed. "I don't know how you'll take this, Miranda. But I think it needs to be said. What Niket did to you, that wasn't right. Sure, he had his reasons, and I'm sure that made him feel quite self-righteous, but it's all bullshit. And I hope you know that."

She did know this, though some part of her wondered: what if he was right? What if she had truly done something terrible by stealing her baby sister? But then, she thought, was it truly stealing? Wouldn't calling it stealing actually confirm that they - her and Oriana - belonged to this man? They didn't, though. They didn't.

"I know," she said. "But all the same, thank you for telling me."

She could see herself back there, a gun in her hand, pointing it at Niket. Saying she was sorry before killing him. No one had tried to stop her, not even Jack. She did what she had to do.

"Good," Shepard said.

He rose from the chair and said, not looking at her but rather at the wall, "You know, what you did? That's not something that anyone would have done. That's all you. It's not your father or your genetic perfection. It's just you."

He left the room, his posture rigid, like he hadn't meant to say it and it made him nervous. She stared at the empty space where he used to be, repeating his words, over and over again. _It's just you._

She didn't move for what felt like hours until, finally, a smile appeared on her face.


End file.
